Tips and Tricks - The Balanced Kitchen

Condiments: The Gateway Drug of Foods

March 31, 2014 By Jessica Braider Leave a Comment

I’ve been reading a ton recently on different approaches to feeding our kids. There are so many theories out there about the best ways to introduce new foods, the best ways to encourage kids to eat more fruits and vegetables, and the best ways to help selective/picky eaters to overcome their challenges with foods. It can be a bit overwhelming if you are struggling and looking for answers. So I want to share one trick that I have used time and time again with my kids that has helped. Now, this is not a cure all, but it might be a little something to add to your toolbox, no matter what issue you are dealing with. The trick is: condiments.

Now when we think condiments our minds immediately go to ketchup, mayo, and mustard, which are fine, although should probably be used sparingly due to added sugars, etc., but what I’m talking about here is condiments in the wider sense. I mean the oils, vinegars, grated cheeses, spices, pickles, and sauces. These are things that I often have on the table at dinner so that my kids can make their meal their own. This allows them to gain some control over what they are eating, it can make it fun, and it can help them to mask some of the flavors they might not be crazy about.

When I offer these, I try as much as possible to truly let them have the control and do it themselves. This gives them a sense of independence and excitement about making their food. I do have to confess, though, that when it comes to salt I often have a hand hovering over to swoop it out of the way when it gets to be too much.

Here are some ways that they have used condiments in recent meals:

Parmesan cheese on almost anything—roasted or sautéed vegetables, pastas, meat, etc.
Paprika on vegetables, risottos, stews, soups
Soy sauce (extra) on stir fry
Olive oil and balsamic vinegar on salads, veggies, potatoes, and meat.
Oregano on pastas and pizzas
Cinnamon on yogurt, waffles, and pancakes
Salt and pepper on almost anything.

So next time your little one starts to dig in his or her heels about the food on the table, before you get to the tension, deal making, begging, pleading, cajoling, and insisting, try light-heartedly offering some toppings to experiment with.

Running on Empty and Still Cooking

March 27, 2014 By Jessica Braider Leave a Comment

Life never seems to slow down, does it? This morning, as I practically stumbled down the stairs to get the lunches packed and breakfasts finished up, my husband and I greeted each other with sympathetic, exhausted smiles and compared notes on our exhaustion headaches. “Does yours hurt more when you bend over?” “Yup.” It was a pathetic scene.

Even the weeks when there is less planned seem to fill up with decisions we have been putting off, tasks around the house we haven’t completed, and work we have been putting off because we haven’t had time. So sometimes it gets to the point where we are just worn out. That is the state of things in our house this week. It is times like these when I have to fight the desire to pick up take out or order a pizza. It is times like these when my husband gently and cautiously asks how many dishes will there be to wash after dinner….

Change of Seasons: The perfect time to improve your diet

March 20, 2014 By Jessica Braider Leave a Comment

Today is the first day of Spring. It has been a loooong time coming this winter but even with the slow start and the impending cold that they are telling us is coming in a few days, Spring has definitely started springing! This afternoon my sons and I ran around noticing all the signs of Spring around us—the different types of buds on the trees, the bulbs pushing their way out into the sun, the buttercups blooming, the greener tone in the grass. It was wonderful! …

Slow Cooker Overnight Oatmeal: A solution to the breakfast struggle

March 11, 2014 By Jessica Braider 3 Comments

Breakfasts have been a big topic of conversation in my world recently. Between running a workshop on it last week and multiple conversations with clients about the importance of a healthy start to the day with breakfast, it seems like people just feel stuck with breakfast.

People tell me that they just don’t have time, that they need it on the go, that they are sick of eating the same thing every day, that they can’t bear the thought of food first thing in the morning. Sound familiar? …

Baby Steps into the Kitchen: 3 Ways to Start Cooking More

February 13, 2014 By Jessica Braider Leave a Comment

This week I have been talking to a lot of clients and potential clients who basically don’t cook. At all. They are eager to work with me because they know that home cooked food will help them with their health and well-being, but that hurdle of getting into the kitchen can be a big one. One thing I hear over and over is that they are turned off from cooking because whenever they do cook it is such a huge production and they just don’t have time for that on a regular basis.

I am sympathetic to this argument because there was a time when I felt the same way. There was a time when I only had a few recipes that I felt confident in making and those recipes were all very labor and time intensive. It felt like a chore and a chore that was only worth taking on if it was a special occasion. At the time I was way too broke to eat out all the time, so instead I ate a lot of sandwiches, a lot of salads, a lot of depressing pasta with jars of sauce. I didn’t enjoy the food and I also didn’t feel very good. I often felt too full, sluggish, and I weighed about 10 pounds more than I do now. By switching to cooking real food for myself I rediscovered my health, my energy, and established a new relationship with my body. It was life changing….

5 Ways to Get Back Into the Swing of Things

January 10, 2014 By Jessica Braider Leave a Comment

I don’t know about you, but one of the things I find hardest about January is not practicing the new habit I am trying to build with a New Year’s resolution (or theme), it is the getting back to real life. Over the holidays I am definitely guilty of letting my good habits slip. I don’t work out as much, I don’t eat as many fruits and vegetables, I don’t get as much sleep, I definitely don’t drink enough water. So now that we are shifting back to reality, it is time to get back to the good routines. It can be kind of a bummer to let go of the fun and decadence, so here are some tricks that I have found help me to get back into the swing of things….

What If You Hate to Cook?

December 3, 2013 By Jessica Braider Leave a Comment

A number of my clients signed on to work with because they want to be feeding their families healthier foods and they know that the best way to do that is through home cooking. Home cooking can be challenging for some people. Some blame meal planning—it is difficult to get organized, I never know what to plan, etc. Others blame not having the right recipes—being sick of the same meals, finding recipes takes to long, etc. But more and more what I am finding to be the real culprit in the lack of home cooking: people don’t want to cook.

Let’s be honest, cooking, like most other skills, takes practice. And for people who are trying to quickly get dinner on the table after a long day, practicing a rusty (or never used) skill can feel quite overwhelming, intimidating, and downright unappealing….

Money Saving Tips for the Holidays

November 14, 2013 By Jessica Braider Leave a Comment

Let’s talk money. I know, I know money is a subject that many of us do not like to discuss. But as we enter the holiday season I know that I am aware that the little trickle that has started will soon turn into a torrent of cash leaving our bank account. We are pretty frugal about the holidays, but with an inter-faith marriage with lots of loved ones, even small gifts add up quickly. And let’s not even get started on the travel costs (yeesh!).

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One Chicken, Seven (plus!) Meals

October 28, 2013 By Jessica Braider Leave a Comment

Years ago I was asked by a family member (who shall remain nameless) if I would teach her how to grocery shop and plan meals for the week. She asked me this because she noticed that every time she came to my house my fridge appeared to be almost empty and yet I always had food for everyone. She also noticed that her fridge was constantly stuffed to the gills and that much of the food was going bad. I see a similar thing with many of my clients. They will be tired and overwhelmed after a long day and when they get home they find that they don’t have the creative energy to figure out what they can make with the (many!!) ingredients that are sitting in their fridge. So, instead, they choose to order food or make a box of macaroni and cheese. I get it. I really do! It is hard to come up with new ideas every. single. night. It is also hard start from scratch each night and feel motivated to do that over, and over, and over again. And this leads to a vicious and wasteful cycle where we don’t use the food that we have bought and then it starts to look unappetizing to us, so then we go out and buy more food.

So here is one of my techniques that helps to keep me sane: I cook once and then I repurpose numerous times in ways that require little or no cooking. Last week I did this with chicken. …

Cooking with Kids

October 24, 2013 By Jessica Braider Leave a Comment

Today is Food Day! Food Day is a nation-wide celebration of real food. It is meant to encourage people to eat less of the packaged food, sugary drinks, and over-salted products that are so prevalent in our world and to replace them with more fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and sustainably raised proteins. These are all things I believe in deeply and passionately, but the aspect of Food Day this year that has got me super excited is their emphasis on cooking with kids….